Tell Me Something
by VytalFest
Summary: Life wasn't enjoyable to Krys. Every day she struggled with how she'd come to such a constant, never-ending rut. With the deed to a farm far away from home, she takes a chance. But everyone there has their own problems they're trying to deal with, too. Can Krys really let others in and handle a farm on her own?
1. Chapter 1

Krys had never gotten out of the house very often. Er, well, she'd never really left a room in general. When she wasn't in her room, she was in the living room and when she wasn't there she was crammed into a cubicle compressed into a uniform pattern with other adjacent cubicles of people who work for Joja Coporation. After six years of working there, she'd decided that it was enough. One day at work, she remembered the letter that her passing grandfather had given her. At the time she hadn't thought much of it, as his passing was still too fresh in her mind and her heart. Maybe that was why it took her so long to realize that Joja Corporation was sucking the life out of her. She yanked her dusty office desk drawer open and took the letter out, pausing a moment to admire the little purple wax seal that kept it shut.

 _He said I'd know when to open this_ , she'd thought. _Well, if there was ever a time I'd most like to leave this dump, it'd be now._

With an exhalation of breath, Krys opened the envelope, lifting the seal. Inside, there were two folded pieces of paper. One looked like a legal document, and the other was written in a handwriting that she hadn't seen for a long time.

 _Dear Krystine,_

 _If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change._

 _The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life... real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong._

 _I've enclosed the deed to that place... my pride and joy: _ Farm. It's located in Stardew Valley, on the southern coast. It's the perfect place to start your new life. This was my most precious gift of all, and now it's yours, I know you'll honor the family name, my girl. Good luck._

 _Love, Grandpa_

 _P.S. If Lewis is still alive say hi to the old guy for me, will ya?_

* * *

After a long, early morning of being driven from her home to this little town in an outdoors-y region called Stardew Valley and being shown to the farm left behind by her grandfather, Krys wanted to leap into bed for a nap. Well, she wanted to but she knew she would have a lot of work to do before she even felt comfortable here, so with a sigh she got her feet moving in search of the local residents. As she walked she couldn't help but notice the natural wildlife here. She had hardly taken five steps pass a tree when a squirrel darted out from a patch of grass and climbed up an oak tree. Once upon a time, Krys had wanted to become a veterinarian, a career that she hadn't thought of since she was a little girl with ambitious hopes for herself. Maybe here, she could do more and make more of herself. Krys was contemplating this when she noticed a man about her age walking down the cobblestone path. He was wearing a blue jacket and was headed towards what looked like a bar from her angle. Too shy to call out to him, she sped up her pace and walked up to him just as he was about to enter what she now saw was the saloon.

"Hello," she said, going for a friendly tone.

"I don't know you," he murmured, frowning. "Why are you talking to me?"

Krys' jaw might have dropped, she was so stunned. It might have, if she hadn't grown up in the city and been accustomed to such rude greetings. She expected people this far out into the country to be friendly. Well, at least friendlier than _that_. She let him pass and looked on as he entered the saloon. Maybe she would wait some time until eventually entering there. Something to the right of the saloon caught her attention - a fenced up dog house. The inside of the dog house was too dark for her to see inside, but she hoped that whatever dog lived there - if there was one - was okay. She adored animals.

Behind the dog house stood a big, blue house with a matching blue mailbox. Just outside of it was a young man who was also around her age. He had spiky brown hair and was wearing a green varsity jacket. Maybe he played football in high school? Hoping not to repeat the unpleasant earlier encounter, Krys walked on over, careful to keep a gentle, friendly smile on her face. As she drew nearer, Alex noticed her and offered a smile of his own.

"Hey, you're the new girl, huh? I think we're gonna get along great. I'm Alex."

Already a much better interaction than before! _Why couldn't I have run into Alex first?_ Krys thought to herself. She reached her hand out for a handshake and Alex took it, his smile widening.

"Anyway," he said, "I've got to go for a run. I'll see you around."

Kryst raised her hand in a wave and turned away. Alex was friendly, but not much for talking. Was there anyone around here that she would be able to get along with?

Just as she wondered this, she spotted someone with bright red hair that reminded you of the look of copper pennies. It was another woman like Kris, with two young children chasing each other right in front of her. She was smiling contentedly and hugging a book safely against her chest.

"Hello!" Krys yelled, hoping to get their attention as she tried to catch up to them.

The woman turned and gasped when she saw Krys. "Oh! Hello!"

"I'm sorry," Krys huffed as she slowed to a stop. Hopefully this farming thing would get her in shape. "I'm new here and I was hoping to get to know everyone here in. . ." She trailed off.

"Pelican Town," the woman finished for her. "You must be Krystine. Mayor Lewis told us you'd be coming. Welcome to Stardew Valley."

"Thanks. I hope we get along."

"Oh. Me, too. See you around."

 _I guess I have a lot of warming up to people to do._

After introducing herself to three new people, other than Mayor Lewis and Robin, Krys decided that she should get started on the farm. Upon walking into the house, she was surprised to find a box of parsnip seeds waiting for her in the middle of the room. For what it was, which wasn't much, it still wasn't as barren or unwelcoming as she'd originally though it'd be. Maybe it wouldn't take her that long for this place to feel like home after all. She spent an hour and a half hoeing the ground, planting the seeds, and watering them, before moving on to some weed-wacking. There was a decent clearing in front of the farm when she decided she was exhausted, so she tossed her tools into a wooden chest she'd crafted and retreated inside. Once inside she slid her laptop out of her laptop bag and slid herself under the covers to browse the internet.

It didn't take a whole lot of time to pass for Krys to fall asleep, slowly nodding off until it was only the dim light of her laptop screen shining in the darkness of the night. Her first night as a new person had come and passed.


	2. Chapter 2

**_COCKA-DOODLE-DOO!_**

Krys sat up in her bed with a start. .. And then immediately regretted it as her limbs screamed in protest. Maybe it would've been better if she'd started out slowly. The simple action of swinging her legs over the edge of the bed made her wince in pain.

"I must be super out of shape," she groaned. "Hopefully I stay motivated about this.."

As stiff as her arms and legs were, by the time she got halfway through watering the parsnips, she forgot about the pain. Being the second day with everything planted, all she had to was water everything, but considering how hard it was just to get out of bed, Krys was pretty proud of herself. But it was still only seven-thirty in the morning. What else was there for her to do?

On a whim she decided on heading south to check out the rest of her new property. As she stumbled about, occasionally cutting grass and tree stubs, she realized just how much work she really had to do. She took a moment to sit down on a tree stump and pulled out the map that Mayor Lewis had given her. How would she get into the good graces of the town people who seemed to have absolutely no problem with keeping to themselves?

Well, it had to be quite difficult to keep going to the Joja Mart to buy food all the time.. Right? She hadn't seen the store with her own eyes yet, but according to the map it was definitely there, to the north of the blacksmith and the museum. There was Pierre's shop, sure, but either way the townspeople would have to spend money to get their daily meals - at least the ingredients for them once in awhile. Maybe once or twice a season. Thinking about it from a logical standpoint, Krys thought she could help out everyone in the town.

See, the town had an interesting setup. There was a calendar and a bulletin board for requests right outside of Pierre's store, next to the door. No one could miss it; she saw it herself on the way home after introducing herself to the woman with copper hair. Figures her name was Penny. Anyway, Krys knew that if she kept herself dedicated to a set schedule, she could have whole crops of food ready. Anything she didn't give directly to people could be shipped through the shipment crate outside the farm that Lewis checked every night. Of course, that relied on how hard she was willing to work every day. Hm.. She got up and dusted her jeans off before continuing southward. At the edge of the land was a pathway to the town lake and Marnie's ranch. At least, that's what the map said. She rolled it up and put it away before walking up to the reddish-brown fence that held a white goat and a black-and-white cow. The goat bleated at her and Krys couldn't help smiling fondly at the little white animal.

"Bah-ah-ah-ah," she bleated in return, having no idea what she was actually saying, if anything at all. For all she knew, she just cursed that goat's mother. Oh, well. She turned to her left, taking in the entirety of the large, red building. The red door matched the rest of it, and with a turn of the knob, she pulled it open and stepped inside.

"Hey there!" A cheerful female voice welcomed Krys.

Krys moved closer and smiled when she saw the source of the voice. "Hi, I'm Krystine. You can call me Krys though."

"I'm Marnie. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too!" There. She could push a conversation onwards. "What's your opinion of the people of Pelican Town?"

Marnie suddenly looked a little flustered, two splotches of red appearing on her cheeks. She was a pretty stereotypical-looking animal lover with her long brown hair twisted into a thick braid that hung over her shoulder. "Animals are great company," she murmured, "but I need to spend time with people, too."

Aaahh.. So she wasn't very social either. For such a small community, it didn't seem like the people were very well-acquainted with each other. They probably knew _of_ each other, but how much time did they really spend getting to enjoy each other's company?

Krys nodded sympathetically. "That's okay," she reassured Marnie. "So, what have you got here?" She stepped back and let her eyes wander, taking in the details of the huge house. From the outside it had looked all barn, but this was actually a pretty regular home.

Thankfully, Marnie's smile returned as she explained.

"I sell anything that you could ask for to take care of your beloved farm animals. Speaking of, I also sell animals to put into a coop or a barn, granted that you have a coop or barn to house them in. Can't have them cooped up in your little house, no offense."

"None taken," Krys replied, laughing lightly. It wasn't like she was wrong. It would take a lot of effort to get the farm into a decent condition, and then a better one after that.

"Listen," Marnie sighed, relaxed. "You're welcome to come over any time you need to purchase anything. My nephew, Shane, is also staying here with his goddaughter, Jas. You might have run into Shane on his way to work. Don't mind him; he's been pretty moody. Now that I think about it, maybe you've seen Jas, too. She and Vincent often go out with Penny for some schooling."

So that's who the two children who were with Penny were. That was nice to know. And this Shane person.. Could he be the rude five o'clock shadow from yesterday?

"It's been really nice to meet you, Krys," Marnie said with a smile, "but I've got to go. I'm meeting up with Mayor Lewis to discuss prices for animal goods."

"Oh. Okay, I'll see you later then, Marnie. Have a nice day."

"You, too!"

As Krys walked out the door, she wondered just how credible Marnie's story was. However, she had more to do than ponder the personal lives of one woman in a town of. . Krys checked the list of citizens you'd been supplied with on the first day. Mmm... Twenty-eight people? Krys hiked her jeans up a bit and started moving back inwards to town.

In her rush, she crashed into someone with a firm, broad chest. Before she could fall, a hand flashed forward and grabbed hold of her forearm to steady her.

"Whoa," a voice exclaimed. It was a pleasing, resonating tenor. "You okay?"

Krys looked up through a stray strand of her dark brown hair and gasped at the sight of the guy keeping her on her feet. He had spiky blonde hair and blue eyes that reminded her of a certain blue demon with a sword from an anime that she had watched back in high school. What a random thing to remember. One short lock of hair hung low over his forehead. That little bit of imperfection threw off the complete flawless vibe.

"Y-yeah," Krys mumbled, turning her gaze away from the stranger's fiery blue eyes. "I'm new here."

"Hey, farmer."

It took all of Krys self control to keep her gaze away from his eyes. Instead, she focused on his teeth, which were shining. Yeah, great. That was infinitely more acceptable. ... Not.

"Who are you?" she managed to ask.

"The name's Sam," he answered. He had the kind of smile that made its way onto posters, the kind that girls would swoon over. Kryst knew that kind of smile, and that she should avoid it. Still, she couldn't deny that he seemed genuine. Something about him made her think of the word "earnest".

Coughing awkwardly, Krys pulled her arm out of Sam's grip. "Well," she said, "My name's Krys. Uh, thanks for catching me."

"Anytime," Sam responded smoothly, grinning a little too innocently. It was honest. That wouldn't last forever if Krys decided to grow a pair and do something about the spike in her heart rate. "See ya' around, farmer." As he left Krys alone on the dirt path, she wondered just how crazy life could possibly get in a small town if anyone dated and things didn't work out. It wasn't worth it to find out.

* * *

After about a week of living in Pelican Town, Krys surmised the condition of the townspeople to be informed, but not close-knit. It was clear that there were a few friendships, but they were primarily between the younger residents. It wasn't like she could do anything about that, though. If everything ran seamlessly, she could be a bridge between everyone, providing fruits and veggies, while also fulfilling bulletin board requests when they popped up. Not to mention, there was the community center to worry about. Mayor Lewis said it was old and nobody used it for anything these days. It was a shame but if one more resident of Pelican Town became a Joja member, they would take over the community center and turn it into some sort of company warehouse dump. Ugh, that one last member certainly wouldn't be Krys. She'd have rather gone back to the city jobless than return to that depressing hell that called itself a company. So corporate and cold.

Out of all the twenty-eight residents, she liked Penny the most. Probably because she was the easiest for her to understand. It was too bad her home life wasn't the best..

The farm was looking sharp, if Krys did say so herself. While exploring farther to the west, she'd discovered the presence of a shrine for grandpa - she had cried for half an hour, the pain returning - and two sections where the forest had taken over the long-neglected land. In those areas, there were large hardwood stumps. They would be a great resource for hardwood, as soon as she obtained a better quality axe. It had taken a week for her to get a good footing, but she was beginning to get an idea of what she imagined the farm eventually looking like. It definitely wouldn't be easy, but it was more.. stimulating all-around than anything she could've tried doing back in the city with Joja breathing down her back.

For the first time in six years, Krys felt truly productive and in tune with her surroundings. Already, she'd managed to start tentative friendships with a handful of people - Alex, Penny, Sebastian, Abigail, Harvey, Emily, and reluctantly, Sam. Becoming friends with Sam couldn't really be helped, it seemed. He and Sebastian were pretty decent friends - they apparently met up now and then to play games or even to play billiards at the saloon on Friday nights. When Krys had finally visited The Stardop Saloon, she was surprised to find the two there. Abigail was there, too, playing Journey of the Prairie King.

Shane - confirmed five o'clock shadow - was also at the saloon, leaning against the wall in front of the door. Krys didn't necessarily like him. His attitude wasn't appreciated, but she knew she couldn't judge him too harshly - she didn't even know anything about him. He probably had his own reasons for coming off so abrasive. It didn't justify anything, but remembering that made it easier for Krys to keep an open mind.

Nevermind him for now, though. The main task of today was heading up north to see what the mines were all about. There was a little shed-looking thing near it but on the map it was just written in as three question marks. After watering the parsnips, cauliflower, and potatoes, Krys deposited her watering can and axe in her outdoor chest and went on her way. On the way up she made sure to keep an eye out for forageable items like leeks and dandelions. Those would be helpful to keep her energy up.

By the time Krys made it to the entrance of what she now saw was an Adventurer's Guild (closed), she had gathered two dandelions and a single leek. Since the guild was closed, Krys quickly turned on her heel, making the dirt make a scratchy sound, and headed for the hollowed out entrance to the mines.

Krys had to admit: it looked pretty intimidating. It was obviously right under (well, in) a mountain and there was a lone, dysfunctional mine cart. To the far right, a portion of the wall glimmered in the sparse light, concealing Yoba knew what. And at the very back there was an old elevator. She presumed that that wasn't working either. Yeaaaah, no. She would not be trusting some old, rackety elevator to get her down into the mines. The only other option was a hole with a ladder going down.

 _Screw it_ , Krys thought, peering over the edge. _Down the rabbit hole we go._

* * *

 **So uhm, this is my first lengthy fanfiction on here. Leave a review if you're enjoying this so far. Or, y'know, don't if it's not your cup of tea. It's oki. I wanted this story to start off sticking to the script and then eventually wandering off to broader views and letting all the characters have their own lives apart from the dialogue that CA put them in. Kind of like slowly melding them into a world that's still CA's, but in a universe that I can play around in. If that makes sense. *shrugs* I dunno.**

 **I'll see ya in the next chapter, whenever I decide to upload it. ^-^/)**


	3. Chapter 3

For an abandoned mine, there was a decent amount of minerals sitting around down there. Krys was only one floor deep and she could already see the left behind potential. How could the town leave these resources untouched? As she crushed another rock to smithereens with her pickaxe, another hole with with a ladder appeared beneath it. As did a furry gray head. And an eye patch. Wait, what the hell?

"Excuse me, Miss." A grown man emerged from the hole, clad in dull green, with a red cape draped over one shoulder. A sword was strapped to one side of his hip and a short, rusty sword was held tightly in one hand.

"Er, sorry."

"No worries. Be careful traversing these mines. The mountain is fine as it is. Stable, sturdy." He chuckled, shaking his head. "The real thing you need to worry about is the monsters that live here." His voice was gruff with age and he could pass for some age between thirty and forty. Why hadn't he been on the citizens list? Anyway..

Krys kept a wary eye on the ladder between them as he hauled his weight up and over the other side. "Alright," she mumbled. Suddenly exploring didn't seem like such a great idea. Monsters? No wonder the freaking place was abandoned.

"Here," the man said suddenly, thrusting the hilt of the sword toward her. "I don't need a rusty old sword as I have this beauty here." He patted the sword sheathed at his hip. "Quite a fine saber. So take this. If you can kill ten slimes down here, you've earned a spot on the Adventurer's Guild."

"Oh." Krys was at a loss for words. The only weapon she'd ever owned or used was a collapsable baton that she had back in the city for self defense, not that she could or would have brought it here with her. I mean, who would need one out here on a farm? If only she'd known. "Well, thank you," she finished, doing her best not to look rude as she accepted the sword from the man. Oh, she had no clue what his name was! She opened her mouth to ask him, but he was already making his way up the ladder back to the surface. Well.. If she killed ten slimes, not knowing his name would no longer be much of a problem. She assumed the Adventurer's Guild's base of operations was the little shack outside that had been closed earlier.

Just a few seconds ago, Krys felt immensely unprepared to venture any farther..

But now that she had a sword... She shifted it back and forth in her hands, getting a feel for its weight. The handle was made from a sturdy iron, with ridges etched in. The blade itself was iron as well. It was a rusty, beat up sword, but it was still a sword no matter which way you looked at it. Krys was pretty damn sure that she wasn't a psycho for getting excited about wielding a weapon, but she was shocked at how eager she was to slash through flesh with it. Apparently she'd be killing monsters, but still. If reincarnation was a thing, she'd be doomed to forever crawl as a roach in a kitchen full of scum.

The rhythm of the mines soon flowed naturally through Krys' muscles, which she knew would be sore again the next day. Every day it seemed she would bring more pain to some new part of her body. The next in line to ache would most likely be her shoulders and shoulder blades. But it didn't matter because all she could think of at the moment was slaying ten slimes to become a member of the Adventurer's Guild. She had no idea what they did or why they even existed, but that was part of the intrigue! I mean, come on. Who hasn't ever dreamed of adventure or played pretend at some point in their childhood? Krys had. Back when she was a wide-eyed child full of wonder and excitement for what the universe had to offer.

"Whistle while we work," she hummed, listening to the tune bounce off the walls and back at her.

How many floors down had she already gone down? What time was it? Krys took a second to take a quick look at her phone. And then she nearly dropped it.

ELEVEN FORTY?

Krys stuffed one last quartz into her back pocket with the rest that she gathered and made a mad dash for the elevator. As it slowly opened, she bolted inside and slammed her thumb against the button that said 0 - it only stopped every five floors. Then she hit the close button and tapped her toes impatiently against the ground. The elevator didn't seem to move nearly fast enough when it finally opened and she totally booked it. The town had a curfew, which was two o'clock in the morning. But besides that, if she went to sleep later than one a.m., she would be drained and lethargic the day after. That was something she had found out recently the hard way. So much for trying to maintain her night owl habits. As she stormed into her house she took one last look at the clock on the wall.

01:00.

A huge sigh of relief passed through Krys' lips. She'd made it home in time. Now that she had, the events of the day caught up with her as they had every night since arriving, and she wanted to sleep. She plugged her phone in so it could charge and flopped into bed.

* * *

COCKA-DOODLE-DOooOO!

Y'know, for all the noise the damn thing made, one would think that you'd be able to at least see it. But no, wherever it was, it must have been omnipotent, because every time Krys went outside to try to catch a glimpse of it, it was nowhere to be seen.

Krys rolled out of bed and turned on the television, attempting to focus on it with bleary eyes. As she blinked her eyes open, she managed to hear that the weather would be rainy tomorrow. Yay! Less work for her to do in the morning. Maybe she could even sleep in for a bit. Mmm, but then she would feel compelled to sleep the entire day away. She'd find a way to pass the time productively. For now though, she had some plants to harvest! Remembering that her cauliflower was ready to harvest put a spring in her step as she bounded out the door and nearly down the steps. She hadn't even bothered to check any other channels. Maybe it didn't matter anyway because waiting there outside - totally not creepily - was Marnie and a big Golden Retriever.

"Hey there!" Krys eyed the big doggo excitedly. She loved dogs and if Marnie offered this one to her to keep, she wouldn't even hesitate to accept.

Marnie smiled, noticing Krys' animation upon seeing the stray dog she'd brought with her. "I found it sitting outside the entrance to your farm!" She reached down to scratch the top of the dog's head. "I think it's a stray.. poor thing."

A stray? That was all that Krys needed to hear. Everything else was background noise as she fawned over the pooch.

"... Anyway I was wondering if you would look after it," Marnie finished.

"Yes!" Krys cleared her throat, tried to salvage some dignity, and started again. "Ahem, er. I mean, yes. I would love to."

"Perfect." The glimmer in her eyes made Krys' heart tingle a little. For the most part she just really wanted a dog, but coupled with the fact that it would make Marnie super happy, too.. Aww. It was nearly too much.

"What will you name him?"

Well, that was something important to figure out. Duh. Important, but really sudden. A Golden Retriever.. Hmm. Rusty? No. This handsome bud was too golden to be a rusty.. Buddy? Ach, nope. Too normal a name. Krys tapped her toe against the ground, which caught the dog's attention. He dove out of Krys' reach and nipped playfully at the new attention catcher. Hmm.. Oh!

"Hunter," Krys supplied, smiling tentatively. It was her dog now but hopefully Marnie would like the name for him, too. She couldn't quite explain why she wanted her to, she just did. Maybe it was the whole bond with animals thing, but there was something important about meeting her that very first day. A sort of silent agreement was cemented.

Much to her relief, the older woman smiled and nodded approvingly. She looked down at Hunter and gave him a little head rub. "You be good now, okay Hunter?"

The great, no-longer-a-stray dog barked, his tail wagging. Marnie liked to think that was his own special farewell. It wasn't like she would never see him again, but it it made Marnie feel better to think in that way, that she'd been some sort of small importance in Hunter's and Krys' lives. She didn't know Krystine well quite yet, but as long as she got along well with animals, they would get along just swimmingly. She continued south, smiling, knowing that she'd brought a sweet animal to a forever home.

Hunter gave out one last bark and bounded up onto the porch to sniff at the broken portion of wood at the very end. This made Krys wince. She knew the farm still wasn't in the best condition, but she would have to wait awhile until she had enough materials and money to afford having the place renovated and expanded. Considering the price of the apartment she'd last lived in, Krys was pretty okay with Robin's demands. That didn't make them any easier to meet, though. But that was something to worry about later. For the time being, she had all the basic necessities - food, water, a home she felt safe in, and the lack of fear that she could one day be laid off of a job or evicted from her home. So she slapped her hands against her knees and whistled for Hunter's attention.

"Come here, Hunter!"

Krys held Hunter's golden brown face in her hands and took a good, closer look at him. His eyes were dark and all of him was majestic, honestly. Of course he would shed, but he could be a partially outdoors dog, couldn't he?

"You wouldn't mind spending some time out in the open, would you?" Krys gave him two matching scratches behind his big, floppy ears. "Aaawww, the cool breeze and exciting sights would be great for you, wouldn't they? Mmkay, Hunter. You stay here for a bit and I'll be back. I need to do a forage run, mmkay?"

With one last pat on Hunter's head, she turned and marched through the foliage and flora of her property until she reached the hardwood stumps and searched the area for any forage-able items. Thank Yoba, there actually were two dandelions and a daffodil. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't much, but until she found anything else it would be sufficient. She would probably eat the daffodil first when it came down to it, since there was only one of it. That way she would instantly gain more pocket space for other items she'd obtain throughout the day - she liked to be organized. At least decently so.

Next came the land surrounding the lake. There was a tower there that she hadn't been able to get into. Er, not that she'd tried to illegally get in or anything. There was obviously someone or something inside there, what with all the questionable ruckus emitted. Who knew, maybe there was some sort of mythical creature or celestial being stuck inside. Then again, maybe a celestial being would be intelligent enough to avoid winding up trapped in some random tower in the middle of a valley. She'd have to ask someone in town when she got the chance, if she remembered. As she passed by said tower, she could hear something bubbling, and a strange entrancing tune. Whatever it was, she was interested. As long as she didn't get fatally injured in the process.

Not fatally injured, but always prepared for adventure, which entailed danger. Right. Good luck with that, Krys. She scoffed at herself and traveled farther, keeping her eyes open. There were so many maple, oak, and pine trees. They were spread out rather sporadically, giving off a sort of chaotic aesthetic. Krys found herself comfortable among all the unpredictable gnarled roots and fallen branches, and the sighs of the wind as it parted her hair and left a trail of soft black tendrils drifting behind her. As long as she remembered or it crossed her mind, she swore to herself that she would make an effort to look up at the sky and take in how it looked without city and street lights blocking out the stars.

Well, the day was still pretty young. On the way circling back up to town, Krys ran into Leah. The young artist was the same age as Krys herself, and she carried a down-to-earth kind of vibe. It was just something you could pick up from the way she maintained her character.

"Hiya, Leah!" Krys waved as Leah turned to acknowledge her.

"Hey, what's up, Krys?" Leah's smile was friendly, but something in her eyes showed worry about something.

So Krys decided to indirectly pry. "How's your art going?"

The question was unexpected it seemed, seeing how Leah's flickered upwards to hold Krys' gaze, as if to gauge how interested she actually was in the status of her art career. It was a fair concern, but Krys did care. They were still pretty much strangers, but she did care.

Leah answered with measured words and a careful tone. "It's coming along. I think I'm doing okay. People just aren't noticing it."

Krys tried her best to make her next words sound kind. "Maybe because your art hasn't been put that much out there." She saw the look forming on Leah's face and pressed on. "I mean, your art hasn't really had the chance to be seen by many people. Y'know what I mean? Have you considered having an art show here at Stardew Valley? Or maybe even selling or auctioning your art online?"

The defensive words that had been rushing forward for Leah to share died on her tongue as she thought about what she'd just heard. Krys did have a point. It wasn't like she could expect random travelers to decide to mosey on down into the middle of virtually nowhere. Besides, there was a reason she moved to Pelican Town in the first place: her art was being unappreciated back home. So maybe she did need to hold a formal event or set up a website to get her work noticed by people who would actually take the time to analyze and appreciate it. She hated to sound like a prejudiced jerk, but for a farmer, Krys was exceptionally people-smart. Maybe she should've noticed this roadblock on her own, but she'd been so determined to keep working hard at everything that she forgot she would need to do more work beyond the initial phase of creating everything.

"Uh no I haven't," Leah admitted, regarding Krys with a newfound respect. "I might give it a try, though. Thank you."

"No problem." Socializing wasn't as bad out here as it was in the city, Krys surmised. They were possibly all hoping to open up and share their lives with others and just didn't quite know how to go about it. Well, she was more than happy to offer help.

* * *

"Welcome!" Pierre chirped cheerfully. Ah, service with a smile, even while he was away from the cash register. What a wonderful thing it must have been to be able to greet everyone you meet with cheer, even if it was false cheer. Somewhere in Krys' mind, she knew that it was partially to keep the customers coming back for the good service, but she shrugged it off because hey, at least he was trying.

"Good evening, Pierre!" Krys chirped back, beaming back at him before ducking behind one of the aisles to browse its contents.

Hmm… There wasn't really anything left to buy. The crops she wanted to grow this season were well on their way. Maybe she could return later. She waved goodbye to Pierre - another short visit - and strode right back out the door, listening to the bell ring as the door swing shut behind her.

With nothing left to do, Krys rounded back towards the forest and lake.

And was astonished to find Shane sitting out at the edge of the dock with a pack of beer.

Okay yes, Krys did not like Shane all that much. Why shouldn't she dislike him? He was a complete prick on her first day. She would greet him and give him gifts once in awhile after that because he was the only one who left the house around the same time that she did, but she didn't know if she could really consider him a friend. As she got closer to the dock, though, he noticed her reflection in the lake and invited her over. Sighing, she padded over to join him.

Krys couldn't help but notice the way Shane's hair flopped over so it swung a little low over his forehead. And maybe it was the peaceful lull of night and the faint glimmering glow of the moon and stars over the lake, and maybe even the flower petals scattered on the water's surface, but he looked like a movie actor, deep in thought, as he looked out over the entirety of it all as he contemplated his life's decisions.

He held a can of beer out, tab tilted towards her. "Here," he said. "Have a cold one."

Krys accepted it, feeling the cold condensation press into the palms of her hands, and reveled in the coolness it brought to her own contrasting warmth. She looked down at the cold can, her fingers curled around it, and avoided looking Shane in the eyes.

"Buh.. Life," he muttered suddenly. Eyes still intently focused on something in the distance, he went on.

"You ever feel like, no matter what you do, you you're gonna' fail?"

Of course, Krys had felt that way, back in the city, working for Joja. But Shane didn't know that. She almost answered him but decided not to. It was probably a rhetorical question anyway because he looked as though he had more to say.

"... Like you're stuck in some miserable abyss and you're so deep you can't even see the light of day?"

Well.. That one would be a no. Krys had felt frustrated more than anything else when she realized how repetitious and meaningless her existence had become. Still she kept her mouth zipped. This was a part of Shane that she didn't know. She wanted to hear more so she could know.

His eyes narrowed, his voice faded so it was just a little softer. "I just feel like no matter how hard I try... I'm not strong enough to climb out of that hole." Idly, his thumb pushed his beer can's tab back and forth on its swivel.

That was.. Unexpected, to say the least. What was someone supposed to say when someone confided in you, saying they were depressed, even if they were better friends? She was.. Quite wary, yes, but the way Shane acted and his uniform sullen look at the bar every day added up to this confession. He worked for the whole day and then went straight to the saloon to drink alone and for the most part undisturbed.

And why tell her? Damn. She was nobody to him! She cracked her beer open, tilted her head back and let the cold, malty beverage flow over her tongue and down her throat. She didn't personally drink often. In fact, it was hard for her to recall the last time she'd even been tempted to drink any alcohol. But she downed everything in the bottle in a handful of quick gulps.

Shane eyed her, impressed. "Heh… Fast drinker, huh? Woman after my own heart."

Krys blanched. That had not been her intent at all. He had to be joking.

"Just don't make it a habit," he murmured, and Krs tried not to exhale too noticeably. Thank Yoba. She looked at him, still facing the water but also angled so he could see her as well now. "You got a future ahead of you still."

You still have a future, Krys wanted to say. It was there, processed in her mind and ready to be verbalized, but when she opened her mouth nothing came out. It felt too early to say anything about him or his future or why he felt this way. She could have asked, but that felt like pushing it. He was already telling her that he felt this way, and it was possibly because of the alcohol.

"Well," he stood, pulling his feet out of the water. "I should call it a night. My liver's begging me to stop." He turned to Krys, hand outstretched, offering to pull her up, too.

"I think I'm gonna' spend some more time out here." Krys jutted her chin outward, gesturing at the water. Shane nodded in understanding, retracting his hand.

"Right, well. See you around."

Krys pulled her knees up and tucked them under her chin as she listened to his footsteps thudding against the dock, and the transition from thuds to thumps muffled by the soft grass. Later still, she heard the crunch of the dirt path and the door of Marnie's ranch opening and closing - done for the day. She pictured Shane slipping out of his shoes and shrugging off his jacket before stumbling into his room and passing out, only to grudgingly wake up again the next morning and go to work - in the rain, no less. Picturing that kind of cycle, yeah, it was understandable why he felt like he was stuck in an abyss.

What could she do? Simply listen? Would something like this even happen again? For all she knew, he would revert right back to the same jerk he'd been before.

But so much of her opinion of him had changed, listening to his short confession. So much had been conveyed in a few sentences and one rhetorical question.

Maybe she would have one more person to help out.

* * *

Vytal: You're pretty ambitious.

Krys: Well, you're writing me that way..

Vytal: Are you okay with that? Not that your validation is needed.

Krys: I guess I'd rather be that than in Shane's state of mind…

Shane: Can you not talk about me like I'm not here?

Vytal: Well, you weren't here a moment ago.

Krys: …. Wait, where'd he go?

Vytal: Exactly.

Thank yous for reading! If you enjoyed please leave a review - lemme' know anything I could do better, or any ideas you'd like me to try to integrate into the story. Love ya' honey dews ;3


	4. Chapter 4

"What's up, Shane!" Krys bounded up to him, eager to share the events of the past day.

Shane looked up from his spot at the wall and smiled. Really, the only friend he had in town was this strangely friendly and accepting girl. For some reason she seemed to just.. be there for him whenever he needed someone to talk to and destress. When she first arrived at town, he didn't want to have anything to do with her. His routine was set: wake up, go to work, go to the saloon and drink a couple beers, go home, pass out. Maybe he let something slip one night after drinking too much? 'Cause even he could tell that their previous interactions were reluctant and more for the sake of being polite than anything else. Whatever it was that had changed, he had to admit he was glad.

"How's it going?" He lifted his hand, closed for a fistbump.

Krys bumped it with her own. "Well, the farm's coming along. You know that tower towards the west of town?"

"Yeah." He eyed her curiously. "What about it?" For a second he paused and Krys could practically see the gears in his head turning. "Don't tell me you went inside."

"So what if I did?" she asked, a little too harshly.

Shane pressed his lips together. Krys didn't usually snap at him. Well at least not while he was sober and capable of keeping himself in check.

"Marnie has heard the dude's weird exorcisms every time she's walked through the forest," he shot back, as if that was enough to dissuade her from thinking of going back there.

"He doesn't do exorcisms," Krys muttered, visibly disappointed in Shane's judgement. He had known there was another human in the tower? And he had this kind of preconception of him? "What would he even be- nevermind, forget it." Frowning, she pulled a pepper out of her newly-upgraded pack. "I'm not sure you deserve this but here."

Scoffing, Shane plucked the pepper from her hands and popped it in his mouth, using his teeth to cut the actual pepper apart from the stem.

"So," he mumbled around a mouthful of pepper, "whaddya' mean I don't deserve this?"

"You knew there was someone living in the tower?"

Shane nodded, looking like he was suddenly talking to a toddler. "Uhhuh."

"And you just assumed that person was, I don't know, a weirdo to be avoided?"

"Uhhuh." The stare he was giving Krys made her want to pull the hood of his jacket over his face, yank the zipper up, and pull the drawstrings.

"The guy's a person, just like you and me!" It was around this moment Krys realized she was trying to make a moral point with the same person who had done the exact opposite of welcome her. At least she wasn't the only one he treated that way.

. . . She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Pushing himself off of the wall, Shane fixed Krys with one of those "let me explain something to you because you are clearly a child" looks. Krys braced herself, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It is perfectly normal to have preconceptions of someone, based off of context clues to the way they live their life."

Phrased that way, yeah. Krys knew this was true. That didn't make it okay. He went on.

"It's pretty much common sense." As he said this, he held his hands up, palms facing the ceiling. Was that supposed to be a shrug?

"Nevermind," Krys ceded. She clearly wasn't going to get anywhere with this, so she changed the subject. "Wanna' come with me into the mines?"

"Now?" Shane moved from his spot against the wall to find the clock. When he did and read the time, he nodded firmly, as if to confirm that yes, this girl was definitely out of her mind. "It is nine-thirty at night. You really want to go into the mines now?"

"This is the most opportune time to go!" Krys argued. It wasn't actually, but she wanted to get Shane to fill his schedule with more than beer cans. His method to remain busy would've been fine with her if it didn't make him so damned depressed. "Come on, we're going."

Krys reached for Shane's shoulder and began to pull him towards the door, but he dug his heels into the floor, much to Gus' dismay when he made an audible grunt of disapproval.

"I don't have anything to defend myself with. You know there are monsters in there." Shane eyed the door like it was about to explode as Krys dragged him closer to it. All too soon,

"I do know there are monsters down there. I have a chest on the surface floor and I leave weapons I don't use in there. You can take your pick."

This seemed to ease Shane's mind some. His shoulders slacked and he let Krys lead him out the door, but after that he withdrew his hands and walked on his own next to her. Occasionally, he glanced at her from the corner of his peripheral. Just as it was every day, her hair was twirled up into a tight bun with a few stray hairs around her ears. She was sort of naggy and always bustling about. To be frank, he found that irritating about her. . because he wished he could feel as sure about himself as she looked. He had already given up on the chance for anything more in his life, and now it felt like she was trying to get him back up on his feet again. What if he just failed and fell right back where he started?

"Wellp, we're here." Krys then looked at Shane. "I mean, we're pretty much here. I know we're crossing a short bridge over the river, but we can see the cave entrance from here, so. . ."

Shane followed Krys' gaze to a hollowed out hole in the side of the mountain. It was vaguely door-shaped, and the stone edges seemed to be smoothed over and worn down with time. It was strange that, considering how short a time had passed since Krys moved into town, and she'd already explored more of the territory than he had.

"This is cool," he murmured. "I can't believe I never came up here."

Without looking at him, Krys pushed her way inside, whispering, "Maybe you've just never tried anything new."

* * *

"Soooo," Krys said excitedly, "who was right about the mines being a great idea?"

Smiling, Shane slugged her lightly on the shoulder. "Alright, you were right."

After slugging him back, Krys laughed and handed him a cave carrot. "Make sure to give that to Marnie for me. It's the only thing that will get her goats to stay still."

"A cave carrot?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Didn't you eat one while we were down there?"

"Mhm." A shrug. When he gave her another one of "those" looks, she rolled her eyes. "It's like how you give horses sugar cubes. It isn't like food can only be consumed by one species."

"Okay," said Shane. "You're a goat."

"Oh, shut up. You're the goat."

"But who's the one who makes the animal noises?"

He had a point there, but whatever. Not one to give in during stupid, nonsensical disagreements, Krys flung a handful of salmonberries at him. Sure, she'd been saving them up to give them to him as random gifts throughout the season, but they could be use as projectiles as well. Why not.

"Oh real mature, Krys." Shane's hands reached out to catch as many salmonberries as he could, which wasn't many, and threw them back at her. One nailed her in the forehead and another bounced harmlessly off the back of her shoulder.

"You can't call me out on it if you're gonna' do the same thing!" As she dodged a berry, she stuck her tongue out at him, feeling giddy with the sudden childish antics.

"Whatever, loser." Groaning overdramatically, Shane tossed one last berry, sending it somewhere into Krys' pack.

Oh, well. She'd find it later. Krys picked up a fallen berry, wiped it off on her shirt, and lobbed it in the general direction of the saloon's garbage bin as they walked pass it on the dimly-lit cobblestone.

"If anyone's a loser here, it's you."

The second the words were out, Krys shut her mouth and watched him for any sort of negative reaction. She didn't want to push anything when she didn't know what would effect him in what ways.

But no, all Shane did was snort, and elbow her in the side. "I'll make sure to bleat at the goat for you when I get back to Marnie's."

Thank goodness.

Fifteen minutes later, it was time for the two to part ways. Krys waved and Shane threw up a peace sign - kinda' lame of him, if Krys was thinking honestly, which she was. He probably wouldn't care for her input even if she did offer it, so she let it slide and walked home alone with her chin up, looking up at the constellations twinkling high in the night sky.

So far, her efforts to keep Shane from spiraling into an irretrievable pit of depression were working. Avoiding Sam wasn't too difficult, seeing as he spent a lot of his time practicing on his guitar in his bedroom. When he wasn't doing that, he was with Sebastian playing pool in the saloon's arcade or skating, which Mayor Lewis hated. Speaking of Sebastian, at times the dude acted like more of a recluse than Linus at times - Linus being the homeless man who lived north of Pelican Town, near the town sauna. Nobody had quite the same schedule as anyone else so it was pretty hard to catch up with everyone on a daily basis. But oh, would she try.

She continued on walking, oblivious to the mound of dirt and worms she passed, thinking of how she could twist her schedule around to fit in a lit time for at least most of the townspeople. Maybe she could go on a rotation. But that would be weird, right?

Maybe she could just give them birthday gifts and not have to talk really talk to anyone for the rest of the year.

No, she already started a friendship with more than enough people to notice if she went silent. Also, that would be rude. And a dick move.

Ah, more likely, she was just way in over her head. And perhaps even a little delusional.

"Oh! Hey there, Krys. Didn't realize you'd be out so late at night."

The voice alone had Krys on the alert. She whirled around to see Sam. His hair was disheveled, and he was standing under a tree next to the river right outside of his house. How hadn't she noticed him while parting ways with Shane? How hard could it be to see bright, blonde hair at night? Well, time to play it cool.

"Oh hi, Sam!" Geez, no wonder Sam and Sebastian got along; they were both night owls. "How's it going?"

Sam's blue eyes narrowed, not unkindly, more in a way to focus. To him, Krys was an erratic, naive girl with the best intentions. Yes, she was very pretty if you were into the bright, ambitious girl thing expected from many female movie protagonist, which he was, and she had dark brown hair that went down to her shoulders when it was up in a ponytail, but he didn't know how long it was when it was down; she never wore it down. He wished he knew her well enough to be able to visit her farm, but ever since he ran into her on her first day in town, she'd been pretty good at avoiding him. Maybe he wasn't giving her enough credit, though. Farming had to be a physically demanding career. Still, was it long and wild enough to hold a pencil if he stuck one in there? . . . Would it hold a bunch?

"Ahem?"

Oh, crap. She said something. He was zoning out. Not exactly the kind of thing he wanted to be caught doing around her. All focus had to be on her.

"I'm sorry. I got a bit distracted," he admitted truthfully. "What were you saying?"

Krys blinked. Was she supposed to be impressed by his honesty? Or offended by the fact that he'd zoned out in the middle of what she'd been saying? Could she really be upset if he did, though? There were some times that other people did that - cough, Shane - and it wouldn't be fair if she only got mad at Sam for doing it.

"It's fine. I was just asking if you're going to the flower dance next week."

Hopefully that was a normal question to ask around here. Oh well, if it wasn't then she did always have the excuse that she this would be her first time going.

"Actually, I am." Sam fought a smile as he took another personal moment to admire the farmer in front of him. "Do you know what happens at the flower dance?"

"I'm assuming that people dance?"

"No other assumptions?"

"Well it is a flower dance." Why was he so intent on talking to her? He could have just went on standing next to the river, but noooo. "Maybe girls will have flowers in their hair and boys could have those corsage things?"

"Boutonnieres?"

"Sure, whatever. Yeah. Those things."

"Any other assumptions?"

"Mmm, nope."

A delighted grin formed on Sam's face, stretching his smile maybe an inch more, like he knew something that Krys didn't, which he clearly did. He knew that a bunch of them would need to find a partner and dance with said partner in a paired dance in front of the rest of the town residents. He hoped that when it came time for the dancers to choose their partners, Krys would ask him. On second thought, she had been spending a lot of time with Shane lately so she probably would be dancing with him.

"Will you be going?" Was is just Krys, or did he seem genuinely interested in her answer?

"Well, yeah. It would probably be best for me to, even just for the sake of getting to experience it."

 _Okay, that was more than enough interaction. Please let me duck out of this,_ Krys thought, making sure her desperation to leave wasn't clear on her face. Yeah she really, really wanted to go, but she didn't want to be rude about it.

But Sam just nodded sagely, like what she said was some well-thought out decision. It was arbitrary, really. She saw the event on the calendar in front of Pierre's store when she checked it, and decided it might be cool to go.

She decided to move their talk along, fast forwarding to the end. "Well, I guess I'll see you then!" she yelled, turning on her heel, and fast-walking in the direction of the bus stop that was on the way from town back to the farm.

Even after he could no longer hear Krys trampling the short grass and very near stomping on the cobblestone paths, Sam remained where he was under the branches of the tree where she had left him. Did he have an interest in her just because she was new in town? He _had_ been hoping that the new farmer would be cute - wish granted. But could he have a thing for her when she always looked so eager to get away from him and they'd never really spent a lot of time together unless Abigail or Sebastian around? Would they ever at least be able to be friends?

It was getting pretty late and if he didn't head inside, his mom would be cross with him. The curfew his mom gave him was a little earlier than that of the town's. So he walked the short distance back into his house, kicked off his shoes, said goodnight to his mom and little brother Vincent, and knocked out the moment his face landed on his pillow.

* * *

 **What's up, peeps! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you're still enjoying yourselves, four chapters into this fanfic ^_^ As always, if you want to, you can leave a cheeky lil review and/or favorite or follow! Pst, especially leave a review if you have thoughts/ideas for me to add into the story. Or not, I won't judge ya'.**

 **Sira: I see where Krys gets her.. Optimism..**

 **Vytal: Yeah. And she's a farmer, what of it?**

 **Sira: Does this mean I'm going to be some angsty person trying to reclaim my memory?**

 **Vytal: . . . That's kind of been done to death, hasn't it?**

 **Sira: I wouldn't know, now would I?**

 **Vytal: Hm. Good point.**

 **Krys: Am I some sort of Mary Sue?**

 **Vytal: Oh, no. You definitely have flaws, my dear.**

 **Krys: … Thank… you?**

 **Vytal: No problem. I think we've taken up enough of our readers' time.**

 **Bye, guys! See you in the next chapter, whenever I upload it! ^-^**


	5. Chapter 5

Krys' luck was awful today. Her short trip to the mine had been riddled with monsters and she'd found nothing useful, there'd been no forage items wherever she went, and the geodes that she'd gone to process were all minerals she'd already donated to the museum.

Well, that's what she got for skipping out on watching maybe twenty seconds of television for one day.

So there she was, pulling a frozen tear out of her pocket to give to the purple-fringe-maybe-a-vampire, Sebastian. He always looked surprised when she stopped by, most likely because he spent so much time either asleep or working on his computer, cooped up in his room. She had no idea how he could do that; staying still and in one place for that long without doing anything - other than sleep - would make her feel cramped and restricted. Eugh, nope.

"Oh!" Sebastian said, with his usual shock to have been thought of. "I really love this. Thank you."

He was smiling faintly, putting a shine in his onyx eyes, and Krys felt like she'd done at least this one small thing right today. Upstairs she'd talked with Maru, Sebastian's half sister, but had nothing to give her. Maybe later in the week she could find a dandelion and give that to her.

"No problem," she said cheerfully. "And could you let please let your mom know that I'm planning to have a chicken coop built soon? She did a superb job on the silo."

Sebastian's visage said he was reluctant to agree, but he did. It wasn't like conveying a message to his _mother_ would kill him.

"Sure."

"I'll see ya' later, man. Good luck with your programming!"

"Thank you!" he yelled after her as she let his bedroom door swing shut behind her. At least _that_ had gone well. Not an entirely terrible day.

Next, she headed north to check up on Linus. The poor guy lived all alone in a tent with only a few belongings to his name. He claimed to have chosen this life for himself, but it couldn't be easy to be prejudiced and treated so harshly at times. He was still human. When his campfire came into view, Krys sat down beside it, holding her hands out towards it for warmth. He had it lit even in daylight, presumably for warmth. No more than a few moments passed when the man himself exited his tent and greeted her.

"What brings you here, Krys?" he asked, not unkindly. Seeing her always brought a smile to his face - she always brought food along. Once she brought a whole plate of sashimi which had been a special treat.

True to routine, Krys carefully brought out a ziploc full of salmonberries and handed it over to him. He accepted it gratefully, thanking her several times before finally sitting down across from her and snacking on a few of his new salmonberries.

"How have the townspeople been?"

Linus finished chewing on one berry before answering. "They've been less hostile since you've come into town. I think it's good to have someone in town who's well-acquainted with nature."

Krys leaned forward, interested. "Really? Because to be honest I wasn't all that much of an outdoors-y person myself until I moved out here."

The look that Linus gave her was one with a renewed character analysis. She wasn't as pure as he'd thought at first. "But the thing that matters," he said, "is that you took the chance to change that. There was nothing to secure your position as a successful farmer here. The town has Pierre's shop and Joja. You could have failed. Cripplingly."

"Uh. Yeah. Thanks, Linus." Was that meant to help her feel better? She supposed it kind of did, but it mostly made her super relieved she'd been lucky enough to make it as far as she did, and it wasn't even that far yet.

"Of course. Look, I didn't mean to frighten you. It's just the truth, and I really appreciate all that you've done and currently do for me. It's more than I expected anyone to ever do. And I apologize for being so cautious in the beginning."

Krys shook her head, immediately trying to reassure him that it was okay. "I understand why you would. It isn't much different in the city…"

She trailed off and Linus eyed her curiously. "Except they don't choose to be out on their own."

"But there is still so much that people could do to help."

By this point Linus was facing her completely, elbows resting on his knees. "And you feel bad about not helping them when you had the chance?"

Did she? For as far back into her past as she could remember, her childhood had been blissful and innocent, free of anything that she couldn't handle with enough resolve. Everything she'd initially believed she wouldn't survive she did, and she had the luxury of not needing to worry too much about her financial position. It hadn't been until her adulthood that she really started to resent her life, but then that was because of her career choice. She'd gone for monetary reasoning over what she'd enjoy. Even then, she had was able to back out of it, eventually. Heck, she got the deed to her farm pretty much for free thanks to good ol' grandfather.

"Yeah," she said almost inaudibly under the crackle of the campfire.

"Well, don't feel too bad about it now. You're doing an excellent job helping not only me, but the others in town, too." He grinned, shaking his head. "Got your work cut out for you, but I think I speak for everyone when I say we're grateful for you."

"I have just as much gratitude for everyone here," Krys replied. "This could have been a town full of criminals or abandoned entirely."

"True," he agreed. "True. Thank Yoba we aren't, though."

* * *

"Come on, farmer! Show me what you can do!"

Unfortunately, Krys had run into Sam on her way to Marnie's, and he was skating, practicing a tre flip. He'd called her over and asked her if she knew how to skate. She'd thought about lying, but if she ever decided to get herself another board, she'd be caught.

"I've got to go to Marnie's, Sam," she stated firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You go to Marnie's, like, every day," he complained. "C'mon, show me some skill."

The whole fleeing thing apparently didn't put him off so maybe wounding his ego would. Time to show this pretty boy a thing or two about skating.

Krys took Sam's board from his outstretched hand and got on it, see-sawing back and forth on its tail to get a feel for the way his setup felt. As she did so, she was surprised and disappointed to quickly realize that his preferences were much like hers - a tighter back end and a slightly looser front end. Whatever, no matter. She gave the stone path a push and started off with a simple ollie.

Landed, alright. She went on to a kickflip. Then a frontside pop-shove it. Then a varial kickflip. All landed. It seemed that with each trick, Sam only looked more and more impressed. Not what she wanted.

"Nice moves, farmer!" Sam's eyes were closed, like twin arcs, broadcasting his clear pleasure in finding out Krys was actually a skater, and a darn good one at that. Krys popped the board up into her hand and held it back out to Sam so he could take it back.

However, he shook his head in refusal and took a step back.

"No way," he said. "You're keeping that; consider it a gift. I've got another one. Maybe if you ever want to go out to the city, we can ride through the streets together."

That was as clear an invitation to a date as Krys could remember ever hearing. Nevermind the thrill that spiked her heart and had her anxious to run for the hills. She just wanted to not feel whatever was simmering somewhere in the depths of her heart for Sam. It didn't even make sense to feel it. She shook the board at him.

"I won't have time to ride," she said with a slight tone of annoyance but not unkindly. "Too busy with the farm, sorry. Maybe some time in the future."

"Or, instead of giving it to you _some time later,_ you can take it now."

He wasn't going to let her leave without taking the board with her; that much was obvious. What else could she really do other than take it? She wouldn't get to use it very often but if it meant she could get out of this interaction faster, then what the hey, might as well. Free skateboard.

"Alright," she ceded. "I'll take it, but don't feel offended if I don't use it much, if at all."

"It's fine," he replied, fighting to keep a triumphant smile off his handsome mug. "Just you having it is cool enough with me. Such a great skater couldn't possibly last very long without a board to ride on."

Okay she had to admit that back in the city that would've been true, but she had things to do out here, obligations to actually fulfill, and it was nice. It was productive.

After looping the board through her backpack straps, Krys waved Sam goodbye and re-embarked on her original task - to visit Marnie and Jas. Shane she would see at the end of the day, after he finished up at work. Sam called out a goodbye to her before heading back inside, presumably to play his guitar.

On the way to Marnie's, Krys picked up a dandelion and bleated her usual bleat at the goat beyond the fence. As she stepped inside, Jas ran up to her, holding up an interesting blue flower. It looked pretty much like a dandelion puff, except blue. The young girl's eyes were bright with excitement.

"Isn't it pretty?" she asked.

Krys lowered herself to a squat so she could be the same height as Jas, and held the hands that were much smaller in comparison to hers. "Why yes, it is," she said, smiling. "I know something in this room that's much prettier, though."

Jas' face took on a look of confusion and wonder as she raised her eyebrows. "Really?" she wondered aloud. "What is it?"

Scooping up Jas in her arms, Krys rose to her feet, booping the girl's nose with the tip of her index finger. "It's you, silly," she answered, and was immediately gifted with a ginormous smile. Jas giggled, an innocent sound so light and breezy that Krys' heart lifted. What a contrast between this little girl and her godfather.

"It's good to see you!" Marnie's voice carried to Krys from her position at behind the counter. "I think you're wonderful for Jas' reserved nature. You always stop by to bring us gifts; you're really too much."

"Too much?" Krys echoed thoughtfully. "I think I'm just trying to fill some sort of personal obligations, but thank you, Marnie." She presented Jas with a small bar of chocolate as she set her down.

"I love gifts! Thank you, aunty Krys!"

"No problem, lil squish." After watching Jas run off with her delicious treasure, she moved towards the counter and slid a bottle of mayonnaise across to Marnie and took pride and pleasure in the appreciation and joy reflected in Marnie's eyes

"Really, thank you," Marnie said.

"No problem, Marnie."

With her tasks for the day completed, Krys decided to wander back towards the abandoned community center. Even outside, the atmosphere was so sad and lonely. The only area that seemed unaffected by the gloom was the playground, and that was probably because it was the only part that ever got visitors anymore. It was… depressing. Something came over Krys, possibly plain curiosity, and it lead her forward, up the chipped steps, and into the community center. Nevermind whatever she'd seen the first time she'd gone inside with Mayor Lewis; she wanted to see more of this.

Upon stepping inside, the smell of rotten wood hit her nose and made her recoil a little. Deciding it'd be best to have some fresh air flowing through the place, she kept the door open by wedging a piece of broken-off concrete under it.

 _Much better,_ she thought, already feeling the relief brought on by a pleasant, cool breeze.

Her feet weren't exactly stable on the creaking floorboards, but that wasn't new, or surprising. The last time she'd been there, she'd only seen the lobby. Now, though, she wanted to see what else this place had in store. It had been the center of social events at some point.

Krys decided on going to the right first, towards a cracked and moldy fish tank. She had to hold her hand over her nose as she passed it, it smelled so bad. Next, the first notable thing in the hallway, was a bulletin board. For the most part it was empty, but there were a few old, crinkly papers with requests. In one corner there was one request paper that was almost entirely shredded. The words were faded and on some parts crossed out, but she could make out the JoJa logo. Maybe it had been put up to announce JoJa's upcoming arrival way back when. Whatever it was, it didn't seem right being there, so Krys took it down, promising to throw it away whenever she returned home. Stuffing it in her back shorts pocket, she ventured farther. Just beyond the bulletin board was a depressing room with a vault inside, its door hanging by a single hinge. Even farther along was what appeared to be a boiler room. Floor tiles were uprooted, revealing a number of nails, and rusty pipes trailed from the no-longer-functioning boiler to wherever it lead under the floorboards. A tattered barrel was pushed against the farthest corner, accompanied by even more upturned wood.

Back on the left end of the community center, there was a pantry, a kitchen, and even the remains of a little crafts room. It was… a hopeful sight. Every room in there had been neglected for years on end, deteriorating without the attention and love of any of the citizens.

And it was nice. It was a starting point for Krys to build upon. This was probably the lowest that this building had ever been. There was no way it could get worse at this point, right? So whatever she wanted to begin working on, all she could do was hopefully improve it.

She brushed the tips of her fingers along the dusty edge of the slanted bookshelf in the crafts room. Then, doubling back, she noticed something at the edge of her peripheral; a bright yellow square at the room's center. In the brightness of the sunlight that invaded through the windows, it had escaped her attention the first time through, appearing as though it belonged there, like a puzzle box left alone by some child who'd left town long before she'd arrived to poke around. But no, it wasn't that at all.

Krys took a step closer, peering at the questionable square curiously. She could see unrecognizable characters on it. They reminded her of something she'd probably be able to find in a science fiction movie.

 _Hmm,_ she thought. _I wonder if this has anything to do with those "_ rats" _I saw when I came here with Lewis._

Suddenly she didn't feel as comfortable, remembering that she wasn't alone there. She had a huge fear of things that were smaller than her and mysterious. Like those pygmies from _The Mummy_. Those were unsettling.

If she saw another one of those things, what would she do? She had her sword..

No, it was time to skedaddle. She wasn't going to take a chance with those things. They hadn't done anything before, but that had to be because there had been two of them present. Many little things, at some point, could rise above one big thing. Krys recollected herself and forced herself to remain calm as she stomped out and away from the community center.

The next morning, Krys woke up to find that she had mail. Getting a letter itself wasn't unusual; she'd gotten letters from other townspeople. What was interesting was the envelope the letter came in. There were purple ink swirls curling around the corners and edges, and a green wax seal stamped with what looked like a foreign symbol, except literally entirely foreign, like no recognizable language would use it.

 _What in the world?_

It was signed by M. Rasmodius, some guy who referred to himself as a wizard. A wizard? Well, at least that answered the question of who lived in the tower and who was responsible for the occasional noises escaping said tower.

She'd definitely have something to do tomorrow.

* * *

 **Vytal: I'm so sorry for the hiatus, guys. Been quite a busy season. And senior year bidness. Haha. I'm gonna try to upload again some time soon. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! ^-^ See ya in the next one and as always, feel free to leave a review!**


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